Baby Products

Is there anything more luscious than sniffing a freshly bathed baby that has been slathered in great smelling baby products? Before I knew about the adverse health consequences of fragrance, I’m afraid I was very guilty of this mothering ritual.

To expand on the theme from my last post about the fragrance in scented candles, I’d like to explain further why fragrances in products could be harmful to your health and especially to the health of your kids. I’ll also suggest great smelling options to satisfy your olfactory cravings.

It’s everywhere!

Manufacturers know that we love our fragrances and that it sells, so they add it to virtually every product…cosmetics, air fresheners, plastic toys, garbage bags, diapers, tissues and toilet paper…even the smelly markers we buy our kids for school! The problem is that our bodies never get a break from fragrance. Even when we go to sleep, our sheets and jammies emit fragrance.

What’s wrong with good smelling stuff?

Here are Dr. Gonzo’s top reasons we should not buy products that list “fragrance” as an ingredient.

Sometimes fragrance is added to create a signature scent (i.e. Johnson’s baby products), or a more “natural” aroma (i.e. “spring breeze” dryer sheets), or maybe to mask the odor of one of the other ingredients in the product (household cleaners) or even to create an “unscented” product.

Here’s the problem…

Many products list “fragrance” on the label, but few name the specific ingredients that make up the fragrance. Manufacturers are not required by law to do so. This lack of disclosure prevents consumers from knowing the full list of ingredients in their products.

Tests conducted on 70 commercial perfume samples in 2011 showed that the average number of allergy producing chemicals in perfumes and cologne is twelve.8 To top it off, 100% samples of perfumes contained phthalates, a proven family of EDCs. Other tests show that the products containing the most EDCs were colognes/perfumes, dryer sheets, car air fresheners and sunscreens.9

When government agencies determine chemical toxicity, they test it in isolation. What they do not account for, are the results of using more than one product at a time. Many fragranced products also contain other EDCs, like parabens10 (more on this in future post.) Using multiple products, which we ALL do, can result in exceeding the “safe limit” of the chemical tested and amplification of the effects of the chemicals when the products are used together.

Let’s look at the fragranced products an average person uses on a typical day:

Shampoo

Conditioner

Body wash

Hand or body lotion

Hair mousse or gel

Hairspray

Deodorant (the heavily scented kind teenage guys use is the worst)

Sunscreen

Cosmetics

Perfume or cologne

Nail polish!!! (More in a later post)

Yikes! And all this before you even put on your clothes, made fresh by your “country breeze” dryer sheets. Now go through the list of products that are used on babies and kids. It’s probably not as long, but similar. As I mentioned in Hormone Havoc, the effects of these chemicals are more serious in children, especially baby boys.7

You can still use great smelling products!

Now that you’re completely freaked out, let’s look at what you can buy that is safe AND smells great.

You are in luck! There are thousands of products on the market that do not contain troublesome “fragrances” and still smell great. Below is what I do to determine if a product is worthy of purchase.

Dr. Gonzo’s Safe Fragrance Checklist:

I look at the front label. If a company makes a product that is phthalate-free or paraben-free, you bet they will put it on the label!

I look at the list of ingredients. If it says ‘fragrance,” I don’t buy it….even though I love the smell.

I don’t buy “unscented” products. Unscented does not mean no added fragrance. In fact unscented products may contain chemicals to mask the odor of the ingredients. I buy “fragrance free” which means no added fragrance.

Are essential oils used for fragrance? Essential oils (not really oils but plant concentrates) are safe for most people, but some may be sensitive to specific ones. Note: fragrance oils and essential oils are not the same thing.

Finally, and probably the best tip…I almost always use the little gem of an app called “Skin Deep” by the Environmental Working Group. When I’m standing in the store with a GAZILLION choices in front of me, I simply open the app, scan the barcode, and look up the safety score. If it’s a 1 or 2 (out of 10) and it contains no fragrance, I buy it with confidence.

Below are examples of product labels advertising they are free of parabens and phthalates. Some I have in my home, others I found at my local grocery store. I use the Mrs. Meyers lavender laundry scent booster, which uses only essential oils, the air freshener uses essential oils from orange and cinnamon and anise, and the Honestly Free label is from the Honest Company’s Shampoo and body wash. The shampoo absolutely luscious and smells like an orange Dreamsicle and my kids love it!

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I know you really want me to just tell you which brands are safe to buy. But formulations change from year to year and sometimes a couple times in a year. You really need to learn to read the label and use the app.

Here is a great example. I bought “Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion” because it had no fragrance and a Skin Deep score of 2. I noticed that the manufacturer was Johnson & Johnson, and I know that they also make baby products. I went to the website to check out the ingredients in their baby products….no luck. Next I called the customer hot line to inquire about the ingredients. Yes indeed, the lady informed me that “fragrance” was an ingredient in all the baby products. The Skin Deep app lists the score of this particular baby product as a 4 (moderate hazard). But with a little more digging, I noticed that the fragrances in the products scored an 8!! Notice also, this product contains even more EDCs… parabens. The propylparaben listed is rated a 7 (high hazard) by the Environmental Working Group. I sincerely doubt new moms would want to put these wonderful smelling products on their newborn babes if they knew they contained ingredients rated as a “high hazard.”

My best advice is to skip the fragrance on everyday products to limit chemical exposure as much as possible. Then, choose a few choice products scented with essential oils or phthalate-free scents, and save the perfume for special occasions.

Following these easy tips, you can feel confident about buying safe and good smelling personal care products. Be proactive and tell others. The more consumers vote with their dollars, the more companies will listen, and the more safe choices you’ll have.